For all the latest news from the FIDM Museum

April 2012

April 27, 2012

BraceletsMother of pearlMonies 1990-2000Gift of The Muriel Pollia Foundation 2006.868.9A-C

Since the early 1970s, Gerda and Nikolai Monies have used fossils, petrified wood, animal bone, seeds, beach stones, jute and other organic materials to create dramatic, sculptural jewelry. Based in Copenhagen, their eponymous jewelry house produces two collections each year: Production and Unique. Based on seasonal themes, Production is a line of handcrafted multiples, while Unique (as the name suggests) is a collection of one-of-a-kind jewelry. The organic materials that give Monies jewelry its character are globally sourced and then crafted into jewelry that enhances the innate characteristics of each material. The mother of pearl bracelets pictured above show evidence of this philosophy. Though mother of pearl can be polished and tinted to a uniform appearance, each bracelet varies slightly in color, texture and shape. The variations suggest the organic processes that created the mother of pearl while also enhancing their visual appeal

April 25, 2012

In March 1958, Vogue lauded the new variety in fashionable silhouettes: "a whole lovely flight of new forms--winged, floating, or held slightly away from the body in some mysterious way. It is the variety of shapes that marks these Paris collections."1 In the accompanying 20-page editorial, readers were introduced to St. Laurent's A-line trapeze dress for Dior, Cardin's bubble hem skirt suit, Madame Grès empire-waist chiffon day dress, and Chanel's slim, two-piece wool suit. The hodge-podge of silhouettes presented in the article suggests that Christian Dior's 1947 New Look silhouette was finally being surpassed by new approaches to the body. The 1958 Vogue article credited the availability of varied silhouettes to the body-skimming chemise dress, which had become popular the previous year.

April 19, 2012

We are delighted to announce that the FABULOUS! catalogue was awarded Best of Show at the 2012 Print Excellence Awards. The catalogue was printed by Clear Image Printing, who went above and beyond in their execution of the catalogue. Clear Image worked closely with exhibition co-curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson, and FIDM Publications staff to ensure that the FABULOUS! catalogue would be much more than a simple document of the exhibition.

Sponsored by the Printing Industries Association of Southern California, the annual Print Excellence Awards celebrate excellence in print media. To win Best of Show in this judged competition, entries must be outstanding, flawless and receive the highest overall score from the award judges. According to the judges of the Print Excellence Awards, the catalogue "demonstrated a printing company's ability to transform paper into a beautiful piece of visual communication. First, the printed dust jacket, then printed cloth cover, and finally page after page of wonderfully executed renditions of photography and text. Incorporate a variety of fold-out [pages] and you have a piece that earned Best of Show."

Written to accompany our 2011 FABULOUS! exhibition, the catalogue presents a selection of recent FIDM Museum acquisitions as a 200-year overview of fashionable dress, including women's, men's, and children's attire. The FABULOUS! catalogue includes full-color images, introductory essays by exhibition co-curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson, and a timeline that contextualizes developments in fashionable dress. The catalogue features the array of garments and accessories that were on display in FABULOUS!, along with bonus images of objects not included in the exhibition.

Eager to get your own copy of the FABULOUS! catalogue? We still have a few available in the FIDM Museum Shop.

April 17, 2012

By the time he first appeared in a Hollywood film in 1933, Fred Astaire was already an experienced and popular performer. Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899, Astaire first encountered dance classes as a toddler, when his older sister Adele was enrolled in ballet classes. Their parents believed that Adele might be talented enough for a performance career, so when the children were only 5 and 7, the family moved to New York. The family (still using their original name Austerlitz) had no connections in New York, very little money, and the name of a dance academy recommended by Adele's Omaha dance teacher. Whether by design or happenstance, once the Astaire family settled in New York, Fred and Adele were both enrolled in dance classes. Fred and Adele's teacher felt that the children had some talent, and developed a brother-sister act for the siblings. Changing their last name from Austerlitz to Astaire, the siblings began performing a comedic dance act on the vaudeville circuit.

April 10, 2012

Gilt chains are a recurring visual theme in the Chanel lexicon. Beginning in the 1920s, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel promoted costume jewelry as an alternative to jewelry made of gold and studded with pearls and precious stones. Chanel didn't just promote costume jewelry, she also wore it herself, pairing bold necklaces of faux pearls, gilt and glass stones with her straightforward daywear. In a famous 1937 photo by Horst P. Horst, Chanel casually reclines and her necklaces fall to the side. Who cares if they are real or faux? In 1938, it was said that her " "gold" necklaces were the biggest and most flamboyant in Paris."1

After 1953, when Chanel emerged from retirement, she applied gilt chains to her garments and accessories for both decorative and functional purposes. The now iconic quilted leather Chanel bag with a chain strap was first introduced in 1955, and is often called 2.55 because it was released in February 1955. Based on a bag Chanel used in the 1920s, this modest rectangular bag has a chain handle that can be slung over the shoulder, or carried at the elbow. A Chanel suit also features a gilt chain, though it is frequently hidden from sight. The jacket always features a lightly quilted lining with a gilt chain hand-stitched to the interior hem of the jacket. The appearance of chain is echoed in braided trim that is often used to reinforce and decorate cuffs, collar and pockets of the suit jacket.

Chanel Karl Lagerfeld 1985 Gift of Barbara Bundy 2006.37.4

In his designs for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld has often reworked the iconic signatures of Coco Chanel. In this black wool dress, Lagerfeld pays homage to Chanel by layering trompe l'oeil chains at the waist of a sleeveless black wool dress. A mix of leather, gold embroidery and bugle beads, the chains reference Chanel’s love of costume jewelry and the casual, carefree way that Chanel wore her own jewelry. The simple silhouette and black ground serve as the perfect foil for the richness of the appliqued belts.

April 05, 2012

Originally posted in 2009, this post explores Mae West's larger-than-life persona. Visit the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition to see one of Mae West's corsets and a pair of her platform shoes on exhibit. The exhibition closes on April 28, 2012.

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Mae West's (1893-1980) most famous attribute was her figure. Buxom, rounded and held in place by rigid corsets, West's silhouette provoked a degree of outrage, while also serving as her best publicity. Her hourglass shape was immortalized in 1937 when the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli used West's silhouette as the basis for her Shocking perfume bottle. Hired to design costumes for West's 1937 film Every Day's a Holiday, the Paris based couturier would not travel to Hollywood and West could not travel to Paris. A solution was reached whereby a torso based on West's measurements was sent to Schiaparelli's Paris workshop. The resulting perfume bottle serves as an iconic representation of both Mae West and Elsa Schiaparelli.

I was listening to NPR the day before the Academy Awards and heard a movie critic refer to a common thread amongst all of the 2012 nominees for best picture. Each of these films prominently features the idea of nostalgia. From Hugo to The Artist, many of 2011 films looked to the past with earnest longing for days gone by. Coincidentally, as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition, FIDM Museum curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson have incorporated highlights from FIDM Museum collection and Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles, Historic Hollywood Collection. This includes items such as Mae West’s dizzyingly high 7-inch tall platform heels and a Spanish matador jacket worn by Rudolph Valentino in the 1922 film Blood and Sand.